Many smaller electronic devices like
high-end
smartphones and PMPs are already coming with OLED screens. These
screens consume less power than LCD counterparts making for longer
run times. Another benefit is that an OLED panel tends to offer
better colors than a comparable LCD.

LG has announced at the
FPD International 2009 show in Yokohama City, Japan that it will be
launching a new 15-inch
OLED TV on the market by the end of 2009. The set reportedly will
have a resolution of 1366 x 768 and a peak luminance of 450cd/m2. The
panel will use a bottom emission type and is constructed of
low-temperature polycrystal Si-TFTs crystallized by a high-temp
process.

LG has plans beyond 15-inch OLED screens with 20-inch
and larger panels coming in 2010, 30-inch and larger coming in 2011,
and 40-inch and over panels in 2012. LG OLED marketing and sales VP
Won Kim said, "Forty-inch and larger OLED panels will be fairly
expensive in 2012, but they will be available in the
market."

Consumers will have to wait until 2016 to see
the price of OLED panels drop below the price of LCD panels. The
reason is that a stable supply of large OLED panels at a low cost is
unavailable today. Big challenges for OLED panels today include
driver elements, organic EL materials, and the sealing process.

Kim
said, "We will be able to use a low-temperature polycrystal
silicon with the sixth-generation size glass substrate." He
continued, "However, for 40-inch and larger panels, we have to
use the eighth-generation size glass substrate. Therefore, we have to
develop equipment that can deal with an SPC process at a temperature
of more than 700°C."

According to LG, its OLED panels
will use florescent materials until 2011 and then move to
phosphorescent materials after 2012. When 2016 rolls around OLED
panels will be 20-30% lower in material cost and have an equivalent
yield to LCD panels today. In 2012, the OLED panel will have a 50%
higher material cost and 30% lower yield than LCD panels.